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Tuesday, 31 January 2012

It's a skincare extravaganza... No complaints it's just what I need this time of year....

EYEKO Skinny Eyeliner Full Size worth £9.50

Get a handle on your eyeliner for precise definition and intense colour with a long-lasting finish. There appears to be 6 colours available in the Glossyboxes, I’ve received Plum. Not a colour I’d normally choose but might just work well with the green in my eyes.

CLARINS Extra Firming Night Cream 15ml worth £14.40

Intensive night-time skin renewal complex. Clarins do good skincare so I’m quite excited to introduce these into my routine.

CLARINS Extra Firming Day Cream 15ml worth £13.95

Infusing skin with firming benefits that are immediate and long-lasting.

FAB Body Moisturiser 56.7g Worth £2.49

Daily Moisturiser with antioxidant booster. Nourish skin, relieve dryness and lock in moisturiser. The card says I’ve been sent a FAB body wash, but I’ve definitely received a Moisturiser, which I’m happier with. It feels rich and it’s a great travel size.

MURAD Hybrids Skin Perfecting Primer – Dewy finish 5ml worth £4.83

Oil-free primer ignites a radiant glow, powered by light-enhancing minerals. I’m really excited to try this! I’m in the market for a new primer and DEWY is my thing!

EYEKO Plum Liner

I’m pretty happy with this months’ box... to be fair the fuchsia pink had already won me over before I even peeked inside. That said the contents is great too. It’s the perfect time of year to introduce some luxury skincare into my routine and there’s not a product in it that I won’t use.

So what do we think then ladies? Are we happy with our early Valentine's gift?

Monday, 30 January 2012

I’ve got to say I’m a little bit in love with this product. I’ve tested it before and was really impressed, but didn’t get around to buying it. Then, as if by magic, a friend bought me one for Christmas. I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks now and can happily say it leaves my skin GLOWING!

In case you haven’t discovered this little wonder it’s a rich, indulgent and very creamy cleanser that claims to whisks away dead skin cells and daily grime whilst stimulating circulation, leaving your skin deeply clean, soft and radiant. It’s like a mini at home facial. The product itself is luxuriously thick and creamy, and it’s odourless. After massaging into dry skin, you run the muslin cloth (which comes with it) under hot water, wring out the excess and place over the face. It’s really nice in the bath, just lay back and let the hot muslin cloth open your pores.

Bath Time

﻿﻿﻿﻿Then use the cloth in circular motions to remove the cleanser and lightly polish the skin. Some people have complained that the cloth is a little bit scratchy, but it needs to be a little coarse to exfoliate the skin! No7 recommend finishing with a splash of cold water to close your pores and voile – glowing polished skin. Follow with some serum or night cream for added glow.

After just one use my face felt deep cleaned and glowing. For me it’s not a daily cleanser, it’s more of a two-three times a week treat, and after a couple of weeks my face looks more radiant- well at least I think it does.

Did I mention this Hot Cloth Cleanser was £10? And with the good old £5 off No7 vouchers that Boots constantly dish out, this little skincare saviour will set you back just £5.

Thursday, 26 January 2012

Get your nails hip-hop and happening with OPI’s Nicki Minaj collaboration! Now I know they churn these co-labs out at a rate of knots – Katy Perry, The Muppets, Shrek... the list is endless but this one really does have "Sass" appeal!

Renowned for her over the top fashion statements, the Minaj range was always going to be “out-there”, but the shades are surprisingly wearable, well maybe with the exception of Did It On 'Em, which reminds me of Shrek green... Eek!

Tuesday, 24 January 2012

You probably haven’t heard of BellaPierre – the American beauty band that’s become one of the fastest growing mineral make-up companies in the world. That’s because there’s currently very limited availability in the UK, but my industry spies tell me it will be popping up in Boots stores very soon!

I got my hands on this gorgeous All-in-One 6 stack shimmer collection. Basically they’re multi-purpose colour pigments. Much like MAC pigments except these ones are 100% mineral – there’s no dyes, fillers, additives or preservatives. BRILLIANT – although it takes more than a social conscience to win me over. Are they actually very good?

I’m pleased to say they’re pretty damn fantastic. The powders are super finely milled, the colours are vivid and the shimmer is striking - they look amazing in artificial light.

This stack includes 6 colours;

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Champagne, Harmony, Bronze, Celebration, Cinnabar, Noir

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Champagne - Neutral shade with icy shimmer

Harmony - Rusty Brown

Bronze - Golden bronze

Celebration - Golden Copper

Cinnabar - Shimmery Red

Noir - matte black with speckles of shimmer

The colours in this collection complement each other very well and you can mix the products to make your own pigments.

As with most loose powders, they can be messy. I’d recommend applying them before your face makeup, either with your fingers or a firm headed brush like MAC 239 to help pack the pigment onto the lid. For an extra vivid colour damped the brush first, you won’t believe the results!

They last really well too – no fading, smudging or creasing!

All sounding too good to be true? Well they do lose points for packaging. Whilst the stack design is cool and crams six products into just one, it is a bit time consuming unscrewing them and peeling back the protective plastic. Then trying to “tap” out the product from its pin-hole confines is a messy game. Unlike other pigments where you screw the top off and can dip your brush or finger in, with this one you have to tip them upside down to shake the powder out, meaning you make a mess and have no control over how much product you get.

Other than that, it’s thumbs up from me. Now all I need is an occasion to sport a little sparkle.

Saturday, 21 January 2012

Proving she’s still got it, Cheryl Cole’s back on top in this seductive L’Oreal photoshoot, shot by mega-star and genius photographer Rankin.

Plugging the new False Lash Telescopic Mascara, Cheryl looks sophisticated and classy... a far cry from THAT awful Elnett Hairspray campaign she fronted last year – Leather jacket and bouffant, not her finest hour.

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Shock horror, Chezza doing her own make up!

﻿Anyway Cheryl said 'The new False Lash Telescopic Mascara is my new favourite, as it gives my eyes a false lash look effect.' Does it make me want to try it – does it ever!!!

Friday, 20 January 2012

I spied these lovelies in River Island at the end of last year, but the £95 price tag put me off - I have plenty of black shoe boots, could I justify another? So I held out and picked them up in the ASOS sale for £32, kerching!

A nod to the Glam Rock era, these boots are FIERCE! Despite the enormous heel they're quite easy to walk in thanks to the platform and the Chelsea boot style elasticated inserts make them easy to slip on and off. I wore them with some black jeans on New Year's eve, but they're at their best teamed with bare legs... we just ain't got the weather for it!

Wednesday, 18 January 2012

Got to admit I owe this one to my ultimate guilty pleasures... The KARDASHIANS! I’ve never been much of a fan of black nail polishes, until I spied the K sisters rocking noir chic on Keeping up with the Kardashians. A little tinterweb searching later and I discovered their varnish of choice was OPI’s My Private Jet, very apt!

Khloe rocking My Private Jet

Since then I’ve wanted to try it but didn’t fancy forking out £10.50 in case it didn’t look so good in the flesh, so I put it on my Christmas list and voile.

This OPI Nail Lacquer is a luxurious deep, dark grey with glamorous glints and shimmers. It’s very mult-tonal; in some lighting it looks black, in others brown and grey and the little flecks are quite striking. It even won my Mum over and she belongs to the old school faithful that NEVER deviate from safe pinks.

It’s very opaque, more so than expected, giving full coverage with one coat, although two is optimal. What I love most about OPI varnishes is the quality of the formula. It gives just enough time to “play” without going gooey or sticky and doesn’t run down the nail or bleed into the cuticle.

I've got very short nails at the minute. I cut them down to start a fresh!

I wore it between Christmas and New Year and it lasted very well. Surprisingly it feels very sophisticated and glam. I just LOVE it!

A firm favourite from now on! What’d you think, any love for My Private Jet?

Monday, 16 January 2012

I've been a bit lazy and taken this post from my old blog, Caked in Make up so apologies if you've already seen it. BUT I had a nasty over night breakout, seriously I was already having a bad hair day, did I need spots too? And on a MONDAY, are you kidding me! Anyway it reminded me how amazing this Make up stick is...

Perfect concealer, how I covert thee! I’ve searched high and low for my perfect match, and blown some cash along the way. Lancome, Laura Mercier, Benefit, Clinique… none of you have been quite right. After recently suffering a flurry of spots lasts year, the search became a mission impossible, that was until I heard about Vichy Dermablend.

Dermablend is the market leader in corrective make up. It covers all complexion imperfections even severe ones including acne, vitiligo, sunspots, age related spots, and angioma, can even be used to temporarily cover tattoos. It's that good it transformed Zombie, the guy from Lady GaGa's Born this Way video...

Sounds a bit severe, I know. All I’m looking for is a good spot covering concealer, well its marriage with skincare supremo Vichy has made dermablend much more accessible, and with this new make up stick, that’s exactly what you get.

This multi use product can be used as a foundation to cover large areas or more localised as a spot concealer. Enriched with an oil that dissolves on contact with the skin’s heat and a texture that is creamy yet non-greasy or sticky, thick, but not cakey. It can cover the nastiest of spots and lasts all day. A little goes a LONG way, I'm not sure I'll ever get through this whole stick. I've had mine nearly a year and it's barely gone down.

It's also handy for popping in your bag, although you rarely need to top it up. For best result apply using finger tips, warm between the fingers then dab on spots. The only drawback is the lack of shades but luckily "nude" matched my skin quite well.

Available online and in Boots stores £19. I’d advise popping in boots and asking for a sample, it’s always better to try before you buy.

UPDATE: Looking for a cheaper alternative, see my review on Collection's long lasting concealer here.

Friday, 13 January 2012

If you’re planning to hit the shops this weekend, you might want to pay good old “Marksies” a visit. Just when I thought I was all “sale’d” out, I couldn’t resist a rummage through their end of sale leftovers, and my was it fruitful.

I spied a gorgeous 70’s style floppy hat, which I’m a big fan of. I’ve got a black one which I’ve worn to death, so much so I’ve been told that the next wedding we go to I’m NOT allowed to wear it! Now here’s the best bit, was £19.50, now... £3! Yes, an instant wardrobe update for just three quid!

I'm wearing MAC's Creme Cup Lipstick, if you're interest

Next up, a long, chunky wool mix scarf in ochre. I do have one similar to this, but I couldn’t resist, and for three pounds I didn’t have to.

Now I didn’t even bother with the clothing, M&S’s sale merchandising is, well nonexistent, so I skipped straight to the beauty. There wasn’t much left but I bagged a Marcel Wanders Powder Blush in Sunblush. It’s a surprise hit. I wore it the very next day and it gave my cheeks a lovely radiant glow, a similar finish to MAC’s frost blush in Margin. Last up, and just because it was £1.50, a Daly Face Glow Highlighter. I haven’t tried it yet but it looks like a great multipurpose dab-to-look gorgeous dewy highlighter.

Tuesday, 10 January 2012

Could this be the most anticipated sequel of the decade? Urban Decay’s Naked 2follows in the footsteps of the Naked Pallette, straight up - the world's best-selling palette of all time! I got one for Christmas and I’m hooked, promise I’ll blog about it just as soon as I can put it down to long enough to get some snaps.

Naked V Naked 2?

The original NAKED palette

The original and still the best?

The new palette is filled with 12 pigment-rich, taupe, beige, neutral and smokey eyeshadows, including FIVE EXCLUSIVE NEW shades. They’ve also updated the packaging which in my opinion was a good move. The velvet packaging of the original palette isn’t very practical; it soon gets dirty and full of sticky finger prints. Naked 2 is encased in an art-school style pencil tin. You still receive a Good Karma Shadow brush, but they’ve replaced the eye primer with a travel-size Lip Junkie Lipgloss in Naked, which in my opinion isn’t such a good move.

As you’d expect the shadows are rich, velvety and very intense.....

Foxy (cream bisque w/matte finish)

Half Baked (golden-bronze w/shimmery finish)

Booty Call (shimmery cork)

Chopper (copper shimmer w/silver micro glitter)

Tease (creamy pale brown w/matte finish)

Snake Bite (dark bronze shimmer w/metallic base)

Suspect (pale golden beige w/shimmery finish)

Pistol (light greyish brown w/shimmery finish)

Verve (oyster w/shimmery finish)

YDK (cool bronze shimmer w/metallic base)

Busted (deep brown w/shimmery finish)

Blackout (blackest black w/matte finish)

Available exclusively to Debenhams online until 05th February, before going nationwide. So what do you think ladies, do you prefer 1 or 2?

And now for the Barry M New Year giveaway. The winner, as chosen by http://www.random.org/ is Yessie! Congratulations, watch out for an email from me.

Thank you to all those that entered, I’ll be doing another giveaway soon.

Friday, 6 January 2012

As we enter 2012, I’ve been looking back at my beauty highlights of the last year. 2011 was quite a revelation for my beauty regime and I discovered all wonders of new products. Here are the highlights...

HD Eye & Brow Palette

I have to start with this one. For me 2011 was all ALL ABOUT THE BROWS! It’s taken a full yearbut I’ve finally restored my brows to their former glory. Out with the pencil line and in with the bush! Don’t think me dramatic when I tell you this palette has changed my life! Before this I was always a pencil girl, I never expected I could achieve the same results with a powder... I was right, I’ve achieved BETTER results with this powder. The HD brow palette comes in 4 shades and contains 4 long-lasting, anti-smudge powders, this one is called Vamp.

I mainly use the taupe shade (bottom left) to fill in the gaps and exaggerate the arch. It truly earns its HD credentials, the powder transforms the look and texture of my brows and the brush is just the right size to navigate easily along the brow without going out of the lines. I could go on and on about this palette, I think it needs it’s own feature. In short it gives me full, natural and multidimensional brows. I have Glossybox for introducing this little wonder to my life and now I wouldn’t be without it!

For me OPI are the creme de la creme of nail polishes. I've avoided getting "hooked" for some time, at £10.50 a pop they're not cheap! but I can't resist them anymore. They're so easy to apply, especially if you're a bit messy like me and their formula's last and last. For me, their stand out shade of last year was Designer de Better, part of the Muppets Holiday range.It's a gorgeous metallic shimmery shade with tiny golden flecks making it truly multi-tonal.

Lancôme Hypnose Doll Eyes

If you're a regular reader of Beauty & le Chic, you won’t be surprised to see this one. There was lots of brilliant new mascaras in 2011 but this was by far my fave. This mascara has the holy grail WOW-factor. If you’re looking for drama – this one has it! It coats lashes generously, gives instant volume, separates, fans and creates the illusion of having more lashes than you do. One coating is all you need, but if you’re looking for the false lash effect, a couple more coats will do it – but be warned, mine end up poking my eye brows! I especially love the brush; it’s tapered at one end making it easy to get to the small lashes in the inner corners and separate the clusters at the outer edges. The only downside I can find, is that it’s prone to some smudging beneath the lower lash line, still, it’s firmly safe in my beauty hall of fame.

Weleda Pomegranate Regenerating Body Oil

Body oil is a new one on me, I always thought of it as a more “mature” product. For years I’ve coped just fine with moisturiser, but Weleda’s body oil has won me over. Despite looking like a bottle of cough medicine, it’s a very luxurious product. It smells divine, at least I think so, and it’s so rich and nourishing. For me body oil isn’t an everyday product; it’s a once or twice a week treat for my dry skin. Perfect after a bath! I apply it all over my body and a little goes a long way . I received this one in July’s Glossybox (thanks again Glossybox) and there’s still a quarter of the bottle left. It’s that good I would buy it with my hard earned cash, although I will try to sniff out some discount.

Available from Lookfantastic.com and Boots £19.95

Soap & Glory Breakfast ScrubThis scrub should come with a health warning! It makes the list on its scent alone. It's like creme brulee, or sticky toffee pudding, either way you wanna eat it up. I've loved S&G's Flake Away scrub ever since I tried it three or so years ago. This new breakfast scrub is just as good, maybe better. It's crammed with organic ingredients like honey, almonds and honey, hence its name. It gives a good rough scrub and leaves skin super soft and smelling great.

There's nothing particularly "special" about this cleanser, it simply does what a cleanser should and really agrees with my skin. It helps to sweep away make up and impurities and leaves my skin very soft. I use it morning and night and find it massively reduces the amount of moisturiser I need to apply, although you do need to be light handed on a morning to avoid a shiny face. When I use this cleanser it gives my skin a real radiance, if I don't use it, I really notice the difference.

£8 Boots, I stock up when there's a £5 No7 voucher, making it a great bargain buy.

Clean & Clear Daily Exfoliating Wash

2011 – a good year for brows and hair, not such a good year for my skin. For some reason I suffered with the dreaded spots. I've tried lots of solutions and found the Clean & Clear range unbeatable on results and price. Some of their spot solutions can be a little harsh, but this wash is gently enough to use everyday. It's more of a gentle polish than a scrub. It gives me a deep clean and leaves my face glowing, especially on on morning. They say you notice a difference from day one, and I did.

£3 Boots, Superdrug etc

Batiste XXL Volume

Where would I be without Batiste. As well as crossing the brow grow-back pain barrier, I also overcame my fear of not washing my hair every day. I’m currently at every other day and I’m aiming for every third day, and I couldn’t do it without dry shampoo. XXL Volume was a new product added to their line in 2011. It actually behaves quite differently to the standard dry shampoo. Don’t make the mistake I made the first time I used it by applying it all over the hair, this one is for the roots only. This is a brilliant root booster. It gives great texture to freshly washed hair or greasy hair. Yes, it’s a little more expensive than standard dry shampoo, but it lasts longer because you don’t use as much, and given how much it’s transformed my hair, it’s WORTH IT! From now-on, on the dreaded day 3, a spritz of dry shampoo and XXL volume and I’m brand new!

£3.99 200ml from chemists and supermarkets

So, that was 2011, can't wait to find out what beautiful treats 2012 has in store!